ASTRO-F mission Original Research Article

In order to perform an advanced infrared sky survey, the ASTRO-F (IRIS) satellite has been developed and will be launched in early 2004. ASTRO-F is dedicated to infrared astronomy, and its primary purpose is to investigate birth and evolution of galaxies in the young universe by deep and wide-field surveys in wavelengths of 2–200 μm. Two focal-plane instruments, an Infrared Camera (IRC) and a Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS), have been designed and built. Laboratory measurements show that a satisfying performance has been achieved. The most important feature of ASTRO-F is its wide-sky coverage. In the far-infrared region, from 50 to 200 μm, an all-sky survey will be made. The expected point source sensitivity is almost 100 mJy, a significant improvement w.r.t the IRAS Point Source Catalog. In the near- and mid-infrared regions, wide and deep surveys of pre-selected sky areas will be made with large low-noise arrays. In addition to wide-band photometric capabilities, low-resolution spectroscopy is provided for all bands. ASTRO-F will produce a fundamental database for advanced observatories of the next generation, e.g., Herschel and JWST.